The Triennial Conference of Pacific Women happens every three years and convenes decision-makers, development partners, research institutions and civil society organisations from across the Pacific to sustain the momentum and accelerate progress towards gender

equality in the Pacific. The Conference is followed by the Meeting of Pacific Ministers for Women.

SPC hosted the first Triennial Conference of Pacific Women more than 40 years ago with the purpose to create a space where Pacific women could meet, share their experiences and identify measures for the advancement of women.

At the 4th triennial conference of women and 1st Ministerial conference on women and sustainable development held in Noumea in 1994, the region adopted the Pacific Platform for Action for the Advancement of Women and Gender Equality (PPA) that formed the basis of the Pacific region’s participation at the 1995 World Conference for Women in Beijing.

The PPA identified 13 critical areas which included: health, education and training, economic empowerment, agriculture and fishing, legal and human rights, shared decision-making, environment, culture and the family, mechanisms to promote the advancement of women, peace and justice, gender-based violence, poverty reduction, and indigenous people’s rights.

The triennial conferences became the monitoring mechanism of the PPA, which provided an opportunity to review progress and obstacles for the advancement of women.